§2D1.2 Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or Involving Underage or Pregnant Individuals: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025
All 177 people sentenced under §2D1.2 in fiscal year 2025 pleaded guilty (100%), and no one was convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 72 months, or 6 years. The 2025 count of 177 is lower than the count for each earlier year in the yearly table.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2D1.2 Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or I › §2D1.2: FY2025
In brief: All 177 people sentenced under §2D1.2 in fiscal year 2025 pleaded guilty (100%), and no one was convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 72 months, or 6 years. The 2025 count of 177 is lower than the count for each earlier year in the yearly table.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 177 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025. Acquittals and dismissals come from a second source, the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. It is part of the Federal Prosecution Analysis series, which builds on Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System. How the numbers were built: How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built.
No Trial Convictions in Fiscal Year 2025
The Sentencing Commission recorded 177 people whose primary guideline was §2D1.2 in fiscal year 2025. Every one of them pleaded guilty, so the data has no trial group and no trial median for this year.
Of the guilty pleas, 97% had a written plea agreement and 3% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The yearly table shows the share who pleaded guilty for every year from 2016 to 2025. One year with 0 trial convictions is a single-year count and not a trend.
Prison Terms and Supervised Release
A prison term was imposed on 175 of the 177 people (99%), and 2 (1%) received probation only.
The median prison term was 72 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 109.9 months or more, and a quarter received 36.5 months or less. The previous year's median was 78 months.
Supervised release was ordered for 174 people (98%), with a median term of 72 months. A fine was ordered for 2 people (1%), and restitution for 2 (1%).
Split Between Within-Range and Below-Range Sentences
A sentence within the guideline range was imposed for 42% (75), and a sentence below the range at the government's request for 42% (74). Below the range without a government request were 14% (24), and above the range were 2% (4).
The previous year also had 42% within the range. For all federal cases in fiscal year 2025, the within-range share was 51%. For §2D1.2 over 2016 to 2025, it was 53%.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 169 of the 177 people with that information recorded (95%).
Criminal History
In criminal history, 59% were in category I, the lowest, and 6% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
The Guideline, the Year, and Comparison Totals
The Guidelines Manual title of §2D1.2 is "Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or Involving Underage or Pregnant Individuals; Attempt or Conspiracy". The Commission classifies all 177 cases as Drug Trafficking.
Fiscal year 2025 ran from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025. All federal cases that year totaled 66,662 people, with a median prison term of 24 months and 98% guilty pleas.
Across 2016 to 2025, §2D1.2 covered 2,553 people, with 99% sent to prison and a median prison term of 72 months. The table lists each year.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 328 | 70 months | 97% |
| 2017 | 287 | 70 months | 97% |
| 2018 | 218 | 70 months | 97% |
| 2019 | 281 | 70 months | 95% |
| 2020 | 297 | 66.5 months | 98% |
| 2021 | 252 | 75.4 months | 99% |
| 2022 | 208 | 70.2 months | more than 99% |
| 2023 | 276 | 84 months | 98% |
| 2024 | 229 | 78 months | 97% |
| 2025 | 177 | 72 months | 100% |
What Cannot Be Read From These Numbers
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. People whose cases ended in acquittal or dismissal do not appear.
This guideline has no close court-martial counterpart in the crosswalk, so the post reports federal numbers alone. The records do not explain why the count was lower or why no case went to trial.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2D1.2 (177), U.S. Sentencing Commission individual data files. The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count.
Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records.
What to Keep in Mind
No parole in federal prison; credit for good conduct. Federal prison has no parole for crimes committed on or after November 1, 1987. A federal prisoner can earn up to 54 days of good conduct credit for each year of the sentence the judge imposed, which is about 15%. Some federal prisoners can also earn First Step Act time credits, but many offenses make a person ineligible. The numbers in this post are the sentences judges imposed, not the time people actually served.
Federal supervised release. Most federal prison sentences are followed by a term of supervised release that the judge sets as part of the sentence. A person who violates it can be sent back to prison. A court-martial cannot sentence anyone to supervision after release. Military parole and mandatory supervised release are decided later by a board, not by the judge at trial.
Who decides the sentence, and under what rules. Federal judges sentence every federal case. They must calculate the Sentencing Guidelines range, which is advisory, and must impose any mandatory minimum the statute requires unless an exception applies. In courts-martial, the accused could choose sentencing by members until the rules changed. For cases in which every guilty finding is for an offense committed after December 27, 2023, a military judge sentences alone, within sentencing parameters. Courts-martial tried in 2024 and later include both old-rule and new-rule cases, and the data cannot tell them apart.
Time periods. Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually.
How life sentences and "time served" are counted. In the federal numbers, a life sentence is counted as 470 months, and any other sentence longer than 470 months is counted as just under 470 months. A sentence of "time served" is counted as one day (0.03 months). Averages are affected by these rules; medians much less.
Mandatory minimum sentences. Many federal statutes on drugs, images of child exploitation, child sex abuse, and firearms carry mandatory minimum prison terms. The UCMJ has mandatory minimums only for a few offenses (a dishonorable discharge or dismissal for rape and sexual assault, and life for premeditated murder). Federal sentences for these offenses are partly set by Congress, not by the judge.
Related Analysis
- Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- §2D1.2 Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or Involving Underage or Pregnant Individuals: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2D1.2 Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or Involving Underage or Pregnant Individuals: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024 (previous or next fiscal year)
- How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range
- Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress
- U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles (source)
- Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants) (source)
About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.